Edvald Boasson Hagen in 2011 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Edvald Boasson Hagen | ||
| Nickname | Eddy Boss[1] | ||
| Born | 17 May 1987 Lillehammer, Norway |
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| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 76 kg (170 lb) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | Team Sky | ||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | Time-Trialist/Sprinter/Allrounder | ||
| Amateur team(s) | |||
| 2006–2007 | Team Maxbo Bianchi | ||
| Professional team(s) | |||
| 2008–2009 2010– |
Team High Road Team Sky |
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| Major wins | |||
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| Infobox last updated on 20 July 2011 |
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Edvald Boasson Hagen[2] (born 17 May 1987) is a Norwegian professional road racing cyclist riding for the UCI ProTour team Team Sky. He is the Norwegian Time Trial Champion and also considered as one of the biggest rising talents in the sport, being ranked as no. 3 in the world by UCI as of 31 August 2009, only 22 years old.[3]
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Boasson Hagen joined the Norwegian continental team Team Maxbo Bianchi in 2006 and in his first season in the continental circuits he took eight wins including three stages of the Tour de l'Avenir.[4]
In 2007 he enjoyed a successful season and scored fifteen wins, ending up second in number of victories behind ProTour sprinter Alessandro Petacchi. But, after the disqualification of the Italian in May 2008 for doping, Alessandro Petacchi lost 5 stage wins in the 2007 Giro resulting in Boasson Hagen having the most victories. Boasson won the overall classification as well as stages at Paris–Corrèze, Ringerike GP and Istrian Spring Trophy. He also took stages at Tour of Ireland, Tour de Normandie and Tour de Bretagne as well as the Norwegian time trial championship. As a result of these achievements, he finished fifth in the individual point standings of 2006-2007 UCI Europe Tour. In early 2007 it was announced that for 2008 season he would leave Team Maxbo Bianchi for the German UCI ProTeam T-Mobile Team.[5] In late 2007 it was announced that Deutsche Telekom was to end sponsorship of T-Mobile Team with immediate effect. The team continued under the name "Team High Road".[6]
Boasson Hagen began the 2008 season with a fifth place in the prologue of Tour of California, ahead of established time trial specialists like David Millar and Gustav Larsson. He later won the concluding individual time trial of Critérium International ahead of teammate Tony Martin and the Grand Prix de Denain. He also finished second at the Commerce Bank Reading Classic and became the Norway National Time Trial Champion for the second year in a row. Later in the year he competed in the Beijing Olympics Road Race, finishing 71st, and entered the ProTour race Eneco Tour of Benelux aiming for the overall classification. He finished third in the prologue and was well placed in the following stages when in the fifth stage the front of the peloton split in the strong cross winds and left him 14 minutes behind the leaders. Boasson Hagen lost any chance of overall victory but made up by winning the following stage in Brussels by passing Jimmy Engoulvent in the final 15 meters of the race.[7] At the Tour of Britain he won three stages and the points competition.
In 2009 he won the cobbled classic Gent–Wevelgem in a two man sprint against Liquigas rider Aleksandr Kuschynski. He also rode in the 2009 Giro d'Italia, his first ever Grand Tour, where Team Columbia won the Team Time trial, Boasson Hagen won the seventh stage in a sprint and finished second in the sixth and eighth stages. In the Tour de Pologne he won the 4th and 6th stages to finish 3rd overall, and secure Norway ten riders in the upcoming UCI Road World Championships. Hagen also won his first stage race in 2009, the Eneco Tour of Benelux, confirming his huge talent, and rising to third overall in the 2009 UCI World Ranking, 31 August 2009.
Later in 2009 Boasson Hagen finished his season by winning 4 of the 8 stages in the Tour of Britain, and winning the race overall.
After months of rumours, it was official on 10 September 2009 that Boasson Hagen would be joining Team Sky from the 2010-season, along with fellow Norwegians Lars Petter Nordhaug and Kurt Asle Arvesen.[8]
Boasson Hagen started his first race with Team Sky in the 2010 edtiton of the Tour of Qatar. After an impressive effort and stage win in the opening Team Time Trial, Boasson Hagen secured 3rd and 6th place finishes as his best results. In The Tour of Oman one week after the race in Quatar, Boasson Hagen won two stages including the final stage where he beat world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara with 17 seconds in the individual time trial. With this win Boasson Hagen claimed the second place in the overall classification, taking the young riders jersey and winning the overall Points Classification. Boasson Hagen won the seventh stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. He also retained his national time trial title.
In 2011, Boasson Hagen again finished second in the Tour of Oman, also winning the points jersey for a second year running.[9] Boasson Hagen won the 1st stage of Bayern-Rundfahrt,[10] and went on to win the points jersey, as well as helping team-mate Geraint Thomas win to 1st overall in the event.[11] He won the Norweigan National Time Trial Championships for the fifth year running in June, but then contracted an illness that put his Tour de France in doubt.[12] Boasson Hagen did recover though, and was given the go-ahead to ride the Tour.[13] He went on to win stage six of the Tour, the first ever victory by a British registered professional cycling team in the Tour de France.[14][15] Boasson Hagen finished second to compatriot Thor Hushovd on Stage 16 after the pair were in a 3 man breakaway with Ryder Hesjedal.[16] The next day he was again in the breakaway, and broke clear on the final climb of the day to take his second stage win of the Tour.[17] Boasson Hagen finished second to Mark Cavendish on Stage 21 as the Tour concluded on the Champs Elysees.[18] In August, Boasson Hagen took a clean sweep of the jerseys at the Eneco Tour, winning the event overall, as well as the points and young riders competitions, and finishing first on the final stage.[19]
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tour | DNE | 116 | 53 |
| Stages won | — | 0 | 2 |
| Mountains classification | — | 60 | 31 |
| Points classification | — | 6 | 6 |
| Giro | 82 | DNE | DNE |
| Stages won | 1 | — | — |
| Mountains classification | — | — | — |
| Points classification | 6 | — | — |
| Vuelta | DNE | DNE | DNE |
| Stages won | — | — | — |
| Mountains classification | — | — | — |
| Points classification | — | — | — |
| 1 | Winner |
| 2–3 | Top three-finish |
| 4–10 | Top ten-finish |
| 11– | Other finish |
| DNE | Did Not Enter |
| DNF-x | Did Not Finish (retired on stage x) |
| DSQ | Disqualified |
| N/A | Race/classification not held |
| NR | Not Ranked in this classification |